Teen Drug Education Also Helps Curb Risky Sexual Behavior

Teen Drug Education Also Helps Curb Risky Sexual Behavior

School-based
drug education programs for adolescents can have a long-term positive
impact on sexual behavior in addition to curbing substance abuse,
according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Researchers found that
young adults who had been exposed to a popular drug abuse prevention
program as adolescents were less likely to engage in risky sexual
behavior five to seven years later, according to the findings published
online by the Journal of Adolescent Health. The study
provides the strongest evidence to date that drug abuse prevention
programs can also curb risky sexual practices in young adulthood.

"The
lessons these young people learned about how to avoid drug and alcohol
abuse appears to have had a positive impact on their sexual behavior as
well," said Phyllis Ellickson, the lead author of the study and a
researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization.

The study
found that youth exposed to a drug abuse education program were
significantly less likely as young adults to either engage in sex with
multiple partners or to have unprotected sex because of drug and
alcohol use than their peers who had not received the training.Source: ScienceDailyhttp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090429111247.htm